The international telecommunications system is in transition from U.S. dominance to distributed, regional dominance. Europe has become the first continent with its own complete and integrated hub to provide services for Internet customers on a technical basis equal to the United States; more bandwidth exists between European cities than between Europe and the United States. Intra-regional links between Asian networks, particularly China's telecommunications expansion beyond the mainland, are progressing quickly, and interest is growing in inter-regional links between Europe, Russia, China, and the Middle East, which would form the first stage of Eurasian telecommunications integration. Within five to ten years, the United States will be only one of several regional telecommunications centers, and not necessarily the most powerful and influential. China is becoming the greatest regional competitor to U.S. network interests, producing its own chip designs, software and protocols, commercial applications, and, eventually, military tactics based on these innovations. This rise may be augmented by Indian and Russian intellectual resources, as well as those from numerous transnational corporations, many of them headquartered in the United States.

plus-circle Add Review

comment

Reviews